November 3, 2010

You need to get moving and get your Pumpkin Spice and Autumn Harvest Blend K-Cups before they're gone. Fall is still here but soon Green Mountain will update they're Fall seasonal blends with the winter seasonals. Why the urgency? Simply put these are two of our favorite seasonal K-Cups and we stock up on them every year.

October 29, 2010

We recently featured the new Mr. Coffee Keurig K-Cup brewer here at Single Serve Coffee, and our excitement for this new brewer was truly felt. Not only does the Mr. Coffee brewer have an amazing industrial design, it features the Keurig brewing system allowing you to use any K-Cup you want for a perfect cup of coffee. That's right the Mr. Coffee BVMC-KG1 Single Serve Brewing System is powered by Keurig brewing technology for coffee house quality at home. We've been waiting a long time for this brewer to debut, and the $79.99 price point is a welcome addition to the Keurig lineup of single serve and one cup coffee brewers.

October 25, 2010

Hot Apple Cider from Green Mountain Naturals helps to bring Fall into your living room with the smell of fresh apple cider. After you pop these into your Keurig brewer within seconds, you get a warm, comforting mug of cider with a hint of brown sugar and just a touch of cinnamon.

Now check out the ingredient list for Green Mountain Naturals Hot Apple Cider K-Cups. No artificial flavors or preservatives. Nothing unpronounceable. Just a new way to enjoy an old favorite, and a crisp clean flavor your whole family will love. Ingredients: Dried Apples, Brown Sugar, Natural Flavors, Organic Malic Acid, Reb A (Stevia Extract)

October 22, 2010

Next up in our series of Wolfgang Puck K-Cup reviews are the Wolfgang Puck Breakfast In Bed K-Cups for today's review. Labeled as a medium roast, we wondered if Van Houtte decided to name this flavor based on the comforting qualities one finds in their own bed when they wake up each morning. While that remains to be seen, let's just hope this flavor doesn't make us want to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep like their Colombian Decaf did recently.

Upon brewing, typical aromas of Arabica were present, but appeared to border on a light dark roast in regards to earthiness. Flavor was surprisingly the same... which led us to believe this was more of a medium-bold blend than a lighter medium. Will be interesting to see how some of the other K-Cups in the Wolfgang Puck line-up turn out as there's some which are in fact listed as medium-bolds. We detected faint nutty notes in the background along with some mild earthy notes found in the regular Chef's Reserve Colombian we reviewed a while back.

October 21, 2010

We've got an amazing single serve coffee deal for you today - you can save save up to 25% on Wolfgang Puck and Van Houtte K-Cups at Amazon through October 31. Save 10% when you enter code KCUP2525 at checkout. Plus, save an additional 15% when you combine the instant rebate with your Subscribe & Save order--bringing your total savings to 25%.

October 19, 2010

Keurig, Incorporated, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. and the fast casual chain Boston Market have announced the new distribution of Keurig's gourmet single-cup coffee brewing systems in more than 400 Boston Market locations nationwide. The restaurant-wide roll-out, featuring the Keurig B140 Brewer and premium Green Mountain Coffee selections, begins this October and will be completed in early 2011.

The decision was made after a successful test pilot in 10 restaurant locations in Florida over three months. The Keurig test proved so successful that some Boston Market locations increased coffee sales by 200 percent. Boston Market's coffee program is part of the company's new branding and service format and will be communicated via menu boards and point-of-sale creative in the upcoming months.

October 14, 2010

The Mr. Coffee BVMC-KG1 Single Serve Brewing System is powered by Keurig brewing technology for coffee house quality at home. We've been waiting a long time for this brewer to debut, and the $79.99 price point is a welcome addition to the Keurig lineup of single serve and one cup coffee brewers.

Other features of the Mr. Coffee BVMC-KG1 Single Serve Brewing System include a removable drip tray, and a on and off indicator light. We'll get one of these brewers to review very soon, and we want to welcome Mr. Coffee to the world of K-Cup single serve coffee.

October 6, 2010

We continue our iced beverage reviews with one of the latest “Brew Over Ice” K-Cups to hit the market… Celestial Seasonings Half and Half Perfect Iced Tea K-Cups. Their “half & half” consists of half lemonade (made with real lemon, or “true lemon” as they claim on the packaging) along with half black tea. As is now common with the entire Brew Over Ice lineup, these K-Cups are designed to be used with either the 6oz or 8oz settings on your Keurig brewer (which makes us wonder if the 4oz iced beverage setting on certain models will ever be used again)

Upon brewing, strong aromas of lemon quickly emerged and became the primary scent. At least now we know what the whole “true lemon” signage on the packaging was about since the aroma really is that of real fresh-cut lemons & not something artificial. Taste was what surprised us the most. We kept thinking of our less than ideal experience with Celestial Seasonings Unsweetened Black Iced Tea K-Cups and were afraid that this would just be that K-Cup with “more lemon” dumped-in.

September 30, 2010

Printed on recyclable cardboard, the Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea Paper K-Cups packaging is recyclable, but the K-Cups are not just yet.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. has released a new green tea in a K-Cup portion pack made with paper. Celestial Seasonings Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea Paper K-Cups are the first beverage to be offered in the new paper-based K-Cup, which is designed for use in the Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System. We thought we'd take apart one of these K-Cups, and also show you the new packaging and just how recyclable it is.

We wanted to let you know the tea produced from the Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea Paper K-Cups is really yummy. Sweet hints of lemon mix with the green tea producing a very hot and relaxing cup of tea.

This K-Cup portion-pack is 90% paper. The rest of the portion-pack is polyethylene, which is necessary to both protect the tea and help the package withstand the intense heat that is applied during the brewing process - currently, no biopolymers (including polylactic acid or PLA) can live up to the demands of the brewing system. Unfortunately, the added polyethylene means the K-Cup is not yet fully recyclable or compostable but Green Mountain believes it is still a big step forward, and so do we.

The entire package is recyclable making it a "step towards
sustainability"

September 27, 2010

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. is pleased to announce it will package and distribute a new green tea in a K-Cup portion pack made with paper. Celestial Seasonings Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea Paper K-Cups are the first beverages to be offered in the new paper-based K-Cup, which is designed for use in the Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System. The K-Cup contains authentic green tea and delicate Bai Mu Dan white tea - one of the rarest and youngest of teas - creating a smooth, balanced cup with a pleasantly mild flavor.

We can't be more excited to try out the new paper K-Cups, and also being a big Green Tea drinkers here at Single Serve Coffee (hmmm... maybe we need to say Single Serve Tea) makes this announcement even more special. What we really like here is the commitment shown by Green Mountain to get recyclable K-Cups in their product mix, and this should lead the way for recyclable coffee K-Cups in the future.

The announcement also states they are looking at even more ways to reduce the materials needed in all of their portion pack materials, which we believe will result in innovative packaging for on shelf, and more K-Cups shipped in bulk. All of these eco-friendly ideas are great steps in making Green Mountain even greener in the future.